Structural air beam support leg including an anchoring weight baffle pocket assembly

ABSTRACT

A structural air beam support leg including an anchoring weight baffle pocket assembly is incorporated into the lower leg portion of an air beam that is the principal component of the support leg. The pocket assembly receives and retains anchoring weight bags or other weights internal to the lower portion of said support leg.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention is illustrated by an air beam supported tentstructure 100 having a tent fly cover 102 supported by a plurality ofair beam support legs 104connected one to another at their upper endsand with each said support leg having an integrated air beam support leganchoring weight baffle pocket assembly 30 formed at the lower distalend of each said support leg and with each said pocket assembly sized toreceive, cooperate, and retain a selected weight bag 110 (selectivelyfilled with a selected weight medium of water, sand, steel shot, leadshot, or other pourable weight material) or formed metal weight plate orother heavy object to anchor the leg relative to the underlaying groundsurface or other underlaying surface upon which each said lower distalend is placed. See FIG. 5.

The present invention is an improvement over other anchoring systemsthat use guy lines attached to laterally displaced ground stakes orexternal sand bags or other external weights attached to the exterior ofthe tent structure or air beam support legs. The present inventionprovides a cleaner more attractive profile to anchored air beam supportlegs than can be achieved with prior art anchoring systems that oftenuse exterior weights attached to the exterior of the air beam supportleg.

The present invention provides an anchored air beam structure that isless likely to exhibit a human tripping hazard that often is exhibitedby other anchoring systems that often use guy lines with stakes orsandbags or other ballast objects attached externally to the air beamstructure.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A principal objective of the invention is to provide a tent structuremanufacturer or an air beam structure manufacturer or other structuralair beam user with an improved structural air beam support leg includingan anchoring weight baffle pocket assembly 30 that is internal to eachsaid air beam support leg used in a structure that is simple to use,less hazardous to users by reducing a potential tripping hazard,low-maintenance, and reliable.

Additional and various other objects and advantages attained by theinvention will become more apparent as the specification is read and theaccompanying figures are reviewed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a structural air beam support leg 6including an anchoring weight baffle pocket assembly showing thecomponents of the pocket assembly and by reference lines indicating thespatial relationships between and among the shown components to beattached one to another;

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded view of the air beam support leg shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of an arced tubular air beam support leg 60including an anchoring weight baffle pocket assembly 30;

FIG. 4 is a side view of an full-arched tubular air beam support leg 80including two anchoring weight baffle pocket assemblies 30;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an air beam supported tent structure 100having a tent fly cover 102 and a plurality of arced air beam supportlegs 104 each said support leg having an arced upper tubular outersheath 64 and having an anchoring weight baffle pocket assembly 30;

FIG. 6 is a partial, exploded plan view of the structural air beamsupport leg shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the components of the pocketassembly and by reference lines indicating the spatial relationshipsbetween and among the shown components to be attached one to another (aconformable air cell bladder is not shown);

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a weight bag 110 showing an access port112 for allowing the placement of a pourable weight ballast materialsuch as water, gravel, sand, steel shot, lead shot, or other selectedmaterial into the bag for containment and retention within the bag bymeans of an access port closure 114 that can be a threaded cap, snap-oncap, or other suitable closure device or closure means;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a shaped weight 116 that could be abarbell weight plate or other suitable solid weight ballast object sizedor selected of a size to fit within a pocket assembly;

FIG. 9 is a partial, simplified view of the support leg anchoring weightbaffle pocket assembly 30 shown partially open and showing a flexiblelower leg conformable baffle 32 positioned axially upward away from alower leg pocket zipper 42 toward an uninflated flexible conformable aircell bladder 14 thereby providing a larger interior volume to the pocketassembly to receive a selected internal weight bag 110 positioned to beinserted into the pocket assembly against the lower leg baffle 32 beforethe pocket zipper is closed to retain the weight bag within the pocketassembly (zipper sliders and slider pull tabs not shown);

FIG. 10 is a simplified partial, side view of the pocket assembly shownin FIG. 9 partially closed and enclosing within the pocket assembly theweight bag;

FIG. 11 is a simplified partial, side view of the pocket assembly shownin FIG. 10 closed and enclosing within the pocket assembly the weightbag and showing the uninflated air cell bladder;

FIG. 12 is a simplified partial, side view of the pocket assembly shownin FIG. 10 and showing the inflated air cell bladder expanded andpushing the conformable lower leg baffle downward toward the enclosedweight bag;

FIG. 13 is a simplified partial, side view of the pocket assemblypartially open and showing the conformable baffle 32 extended downwardby the inflated and expanded bladder 14;

FIG. 14 is a partial, perspective view of the support leg anchoringweight baffle pocket assembly 30 shown open and showing a conformablelower leg baffle 32 positioned axially upward away from a lower legpocket zipper 42 that provides an interior volume to the pocket assemblyto receive a selected internal weight bag 110 positioned to be insertedinto the pocket assembly and against the conformable lower leg bafflecomprising the cap panel 34 joined to the baffle panel 32 before thepocket zipper is closed to retain the weight bag within the pocketassembly;

FIG. 15 is a partial, side view of the support leg anchoring weightbaffle pocket assembly and the inserted weight bag both shown in FIG. 14with the pocket zipper 42 ready to be closed;

FIG. 16 is a partial, partially cutaway side view of the support leganchoring weight baffle pocket assembly shown in FIG. 15 with the pocketzipper closed and the weight bag enclosed within the assembly andshowing a support leg spine zipper 20 partially opened and showing aninflatable air cell bladder 14 that when inflated pushes outward againstthe inside surfaces of the outer sheath and pushes downward against theconformable leg baffle and conforms the baffle closely to the weight bagbelow the baffle that is contained in the pocket assembly or pushes thebaffle down fully to fill the pocket assembly if no weight bag or otherweight object is present in the pocket assembly;

FIG. 17 is a partial, side view of the support leg anchoring weightbaffle pocket assembly shown in FIG. 16 with the pocket zipper and thespine zipper both closed;

FIG. 18 is a partial, side view of the support leg anchoring weightbaffle pocket assembly and the enclosed weight bag shown in FIG. 16 withthe pocket zipper closed showing an air cell inflation port 16 and aninflation port closure 18 attached by a lanyard;

FIG. 19 is a partial, side view of the support leg anchoring weightbaffle pocket assembly shown in FIG. 16 with the pocket zipper closedand showing a small portion of the weight bag 110 visible between thetwo pocket zipper sliders 43;

FIG. 20 is an bottom view of the flexible high-friction pad 54 encircledby an edge piping 56 and showing potential stitching lines by use ofdashed lines;

FIG. 21 is a partial, perspective view of the pocket assembly shown inFIG. 16 with the spine zipper 20 open to show the interior of the pocketassembly above the conformable lower leg baffle wall 36 and theconformable lower leg baffle cap panel 34 and showing the leg baffle inan upward position away from the pocket zipper 42 (the air cell bladderis not shown);

FIG. 22 is a partial, perspective view of the pocket assembly shown inFIG. 21 with the spine zipper open to show the interior of the pocketassembly above the leg baffle and showing the air-cell bladder 14adjacent the baffle cap panel 34;

FIG. 23 is a partial, perspective view of the support leg anchoringweight ballast conformal baffle pocket assembly 30 shown open andshowing a conformable lower leg baffle positioned axially downward awayfrom the lower leg panel 12 that will result in a smaller empty interiorvolume to the pocket assembly when no weight bag or other object isinserted into the pocket assembly; and

FIG. 24 is a partial, perspective view of the support leg anchoringweight baffle pocket assembly 30 shown partially open and showing alower leg baffle 32 above a conformal weight bag 110.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 24, the present invention is a novel structuralair beam support leg including an anchoring weight preferably conformalbaffle pocket assembly 30 that internally receives and retains a weightbag 110 or other weight material within a reversibly closable pocket toanchor said support leg to the ground or the underlaying surface uponwhich the support leg rests without having to use external guy lines andground stakes together or ground stakes to tie-down straps or externalto the air beam weight bags or external anchors.

By illustration, the elements of the invention are in one embodiment, anair beam support leg anchoring weight baffle pocket assembly 30 forincorporation into the distal lower ends of air beam support legs 104,or 6, or 60, or 80 of an air beam supported tent structure 100 or otherair beam supported structure that can have a flexible fabric tent flycover 102 or other covering or banner or flag or other object retainedto the tent structure by a plurality of tent fly cover retention straps106 connecting to said support legs or other connecting meansappropriate with respect to the respective structural air beamembodiment; said tent structure having one or more air beam support legs104, each said support leg comprising a generally tubular shapedflexible non-elastic outer sheath 64 or 10 or 86 (made of PVC supportedindustrial fabric or polyurethane supported industrial fabric or othersuitable sheet material) that encircles and encloses within said leg anair cell bladder 14 (see FIGS. 1, 2, 9 to 13, 16, and 22) preferablymade of a flexible elastic sheet material that receives and retains aninflating gas (air or other suitable inflating gas) through an air cellbladder inflation port 16 to inflate said bladder and fill the interiorof said leg, said bladder when inflated presses outward against theinterior surfaces of the leg and presses outward and against theinterior of the outer sheath and outward and against an internal baffle32 preferably defined by a baffle cap panel 34 joined to a baffle panel36 and the bladder places the outer sheath and the baffle in tension andthe leg becomes more rigid and capable of supporting the support leg andany supported tent structure or other load and urges the baffle awayfrom the upper end of the outer sheath and toward the lower distal endof the support leg; said baffle pocket assembly is incorporated as thelower distal portion of each said support leg; each said leg anchoringweight pocket assembly 30 comprises:

-   a lower air beam leg panel 12 that forms a generally tubular lower    portion of the support leg, a lower leg baffle 32 preferably having    a lower leg baffle wall 36 attached to a lower leg baffle cap panel    34 is located and attached within the lower portion of the leg panel    that bridges generally transversely across and between a selected    position located towards the lower distal end of the leg panel;    preferably each support leg has a support leg spine zipper 20    attached along the spine of the leg to allow access to the interior    of the leg and to the enclosed air bladder; a generally rectangular    lower leg zippered weight pocket upper wall panel 38 attached to the    generally horizontal lower edge of the outer sheath lower end    portion 12;-   an outer sheath hinge panel 40 attached between said pocket upper    wall panel and a generally rectangular lower leg pocket lower wall    panel 44;-   a lower leg pocket zipper 42 (or reversible closure means such as    snaps or hook and loop closures or other suitable closure means) is    attached between said pocket upper wall panel and said pocket lower    wall panel;-   a lower leg air beam lower end panel 46 attached to said lower wall    panel to close the distal end of the support leg;-   said baffle, said hinge panel, said pocket upper wall panel, said    pocket zipper, said pocket lower wall panel, and said air beam lower    end panel defining a flexible weight (ballast) receiving and    retaining pocket within the lower portion of said support leg;-   also preferably there are a plurality of lower leg base D-ring    straps 48 attached to the outside bottom surface of the lower end    panel;-   also preferably there is a lower leg support base wear pad 50    attached to the outside bottom surface of the lower end panel;-   also preferably a length of base wear pad edge piping 52 is attached    to cover the outer perimeter of the base wear pad;-   also preferably a flexible high-friction pad 54 is attached to the    bottom surface of the wear pad; a length of flexible edge piping 56    can be attached to cover the outer perimeter of the flexible    high-friction pad.

Preferably the weight receiving and retaining pocket is sized toreceive, retain, and cooperate with a selected weight bag 110 preferablyhaving a weight bag access port 112 to receive a weight or other weightymaterial and having an access port closure 114 or a selected shapedweight plate 116 or other ballast object within the pocket assembly. Thebladder has an air cell bladder inflation port 16 for inflating anddeflating the bladder and the port has a suitable inflation port closure18.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a straight tubular air beam 6 comprises anair beam upper end panel 8 connected to the upper end of a generallystraight upper tubular outer sheath 10, said outer sheath is hollow andhas a generally vertical outer sheath lower end portion 12, said endportion preferably has an inflation port aperture 13 there through; aconformable air cell bladder 14 received and retained within said outersheath with said bladder sized to conform and fill when inflated theinterior volume of said outer sheath (the tubular air beam), an air cellbladder inflation port 16 is connected to and communicates into and outof said bladder and is preferably mounted through said outer sheathinflation port aperture; preferably an inflation port closure 18 isprovided to close the inflation port, said port closure can be athreaded cap; preferably an outer sheath spine zipper 20 equipped withat least one spine zipper slider 22 and associated slider pull tab 24;said spine zipper is preferably mounted longitudinally in said outersheath to allow access through said outer sheath and into the interiorof said tubular air beam; an air beam anchoring weight baffle pocketassembly 30 (elements 32 to 46) is attached to the lower distal end ofsaid lower end portion; preferably a transverse flexible conformablebaffle 32 is mounted within said lower end portion to separate the aircell bladder from the weight bag or other objects placed in said pocketassembly, preferably said baffle comprises a baffle cap panel 34attached to a baffle wall panel 36 (see FIGS. 1, 6, 14, and 21 to 23); apocket upper wall panel 38 is attached to the lower edge of said lowerend portion and to a flexible outer sheath hinge panel 40, said hingepanel preferably attached to said upper wall panel and to the two endsof a pocket zipper 42 equipped with at least one pocket zipper slider 43and associated slider pull tab, said zipper upper longitudinal halfattached along the lower edge of said upper wall panel and said zipperlower longitudinal half attached along the upper edge of a pocket lowerwall panel 44; an beam lower end panel 46 attached to said lower wallpanel along the lower edged of said lower wall panel; preferably aplurality of lower leg base D-ring straps 48 attached to lower portionsof said air beam; (D-ring straps securement stitching 49 can be used toattach said D-ring straps); preferably a lower leg support base wear pad50 is attached to and beneath said lower end panel; a length of optionalbase wear pad edge piping 52 can be attached to the edge of said wearpad; preferably a flexible high-friction pad 54 is attached below saidlower end panel and said wear panel if present in said support leg; anda length of optional high-friction pad edge piping 56 can be attached tothe edge of said high-friction pad.

An arced tubular air beam 60 comprises an air beam upper end panel 62attached to an arced upper tubular outer sheath 64 having a generallyvertical outer sheath lower end portion 12, a conformable air cellbladder is received and retained within said tubular outer sheath sizedto conform and fill when inflated the interior volume of said tubularair beam, said air cell bladder having an air cell bladder inflationport 16 preferably equipped with an inflation port closure 18;preferably an outer sheath spine zipper 66 having at least one spinezipper slider 68 and associated slider pull tab 70 is mountedlongitudinally in said outer sheath to allow access through said sheathinto the interior of said arced tubular air beam; an air beam anchoringweight baffle pocket assembly 30 attached to the distal end of saidlower end portion. See FIGS. 3 and 5.

Referring to FIG. 4, a full-arched tubular air beam 80 comprises afull-arched upper tubular outer sheath 84, two generally vertical outersheath lower end portions 12, a conformable air cell bladder is receivedand retained within said tubular outer sheath sized to conform and fillwhen inflated the interior volume of said full-arched tubular air beam,an air cell bladder inflation port 16 preferably equipped with aninflation port closure 18 is connected to and communicates into and outof said bladder and preferably an outer sheath spine zipper 86 having atleast one spine zipper slider 88 and associated slider pull tab 88 ismounted longitudinally in said outer sheath to allow access through saidsheath into the interior of said arced tubular air beam; and two airbeam anchoring weight baffle pocket assemblies 30 attached respectivelyto the distal end of each said lower end portion.

Referring to FIG. 5, an air beam supported tent structure 100 comprisesa plurality of arced air beam support legs 104 (60) with each saidsupport leg having an anchoring weight baffle pocket assembly connectedand radially distributed one to another at their upper ends; a tent flycover 102 preferably attached over said support legs; preferably aplurality of tent fly cover retention straps 106 attached to said flycover and connecting said fly cover to respective portions of supportlegs; said support legs joined one to another at their respective upperends by attaching means such as adhesive used between abutting portionsof said upper ends to join said abutting portions, a plurality ofconnecting panels attached to and among said upper ends, one or moreconnecting straps attached to and among said upper ends, or otherattaching means known in the art to attach said upper ends one toanother.

Preferably a flexible, conformable internal weight bag 110 is availablefor use with each embodiment of the anchoring weight baffle pocketassembly, said weight bag having a weight bag access port 112 and anassociated access port closure 114 (a threaded cap or other suitableclosure means that permit selected access into and from said bad; saidbag being water and air tight when closed by the closure. Alternatively,a shaped weight plate 116 such as a barbell weight plate suitably sizedto fit within and to be retained within said pocket assembly can be usedwith the pocket assembly.

In place of a conformable baffle, a static flexible but non stretchablebaffle could be used with the invention, but with less utility thanavailable with a conformable baffle 32.

A majority of the fabic components of the invention are preferably madefrom a flexible nonelastic PVC coated flexible fabric material. Theair-cell bladder can be made from flexibe polyurethane sheet material orother suitable flexible inflating gas impervious material. Means ofjoining or attaching of elements of the invention one to anotherpreferably may include welding, hot air welding, RF welding, adhesive,stitching, or connecting straps, or other connecting means known in theart.

The preceding description and exposition of a preferred embodiment ofthe invention is presented for purposes of illustration and enablingdisclosure. It is neither intended to be exhaustive nor to limit theinvention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications or variations inthe invention in light of the above teachings that are obvious to one ofordinary skill in the art are considered within the scope of theinvention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted to thebreath to which they are fairly, legitimately and equitably entitled.

We claim:
 1. An air beam tent support structure comprising: a pluralityof structural tubular air beam support legs joined at their upper endsone to another, a tent cover fly over said support legs and attached tosaid support legs, each said support leg having a tubular air beamhaving a hollow outer sheath, each air beam having an internalconformable air cell bladder having an inflation port, said bladderretained within said outer sheath to inflate and make more rigid saidair beam upon inflation of said bladder, each said support leg having ananchoring weight baffle pocket assembly at a lower distal portion ofsaid support leg to receive and retain an anchoring weight in a weightreceiving and retaining pocket within the lower portion of said supportleg.
 2. A structural air beam support leg including an anchoring weightbaffle pocket assembly.
 3. A structural air beam support leg inaccordance with claim 2 further comprising a conformal baffle in saidpocket assembly.